Soos ( grc-gre, Σόος) was a fictional king of

Sparta Sparta ( Doric Greek: Σπάρτα, ''Spártā''; Attic Greek: Σπάρτη, ''Spártē'') was a prominent city-state in Laconia, in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (, ), while the name Sparta referre ...

, created in the 4th century BC in order to harmonise the list of the two Spartan dynasties. Various deeds were also attached to his reign, dated by ancient authors to the 11th century BC.

Life

Soos is supposed to be the son of

Procles In Greek legends, Procles ( el, Προκλῆς, "the renowned") was one of the Heracleidae, a great-great-great-grandson of Heracles, and a son of Aristodemus and Argia. His twin was Eurysthenes. Together they received the land of Lacedaemon aft ...

, the alleged founder of the Eurypontid dynasty, one of the two royal family in Sparta (the other being the Agiads). However, modern historians consider that he was invented during the 4th century BC. Soos is absent from the lists of kings given by

Herodotus Herodotus ( ; grc, , }; BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus, part of the Persian Empire (now Bodrum, Turkey) and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria ( Italy). He is known f ...

, who wrote in the 5th century. He makes his first appearance in

Plato Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...

's dialogue ''

Cratylus Cratylus ( ; grc, Κρατύλος, ''Kratylos'') was an ancient Athenian philosopher from the mid-late 5th century BCE, known mostly through his portrayal in Plato's dialogue '' Cratylus''. He was a radical proponent of Heraclitean philosophy ...

'', but he is only described there as a nobleman, not a king. A bit later, the historian

Ephorus Ephorus of Cyme (; grc-gre, Ἔφορος ὁ Κυμαῖος, ''Ephoros ho Kymaios''; c. 400330 BC) was an ancient Greek historian known for his universal history. Biography Information on his biography is limited. He was born in Cyme, A ...

implicitly recognized him as king by referring to

Lycurgus Lycurgus or Lykourgos () may refer to: People * Lycurgus (king of Sparta) (third century BC) * Lycurgus (lawgiver) (eighth century BC), creator of constitution of Sparta * Lycurgus of Athens (fourth century BC), one of the 'ten notable orators' ...

as the sixth Eurypontid in line from

, which is only possible if Soos is counted as king. The main reason for his addition was the need to synchronize the reigns of the Eurypontid

Theopompus Theopompus ( grc-gre, Θεόπομπος, ''Theópompos''; c. 380 BCc. 315 BC) was an ancient Greek historian and rhetorician. Biography Theopompus was born on the Aegean island of Chios. In early youth, he seems to have spent some time at Athen ...

and the Agiad

Polydorus In Greek mythology, Polydorus (; grc, Πολύδωρος, i.e. "many-gift d) or Polydoros referred to several different people. *Polydorus, son of Phineus and Cleopatra, and brother of Polydector (Polydectus). These two sons by his first wife were ...

—who were thought to have reigned together—as the Agiads counted one more king before Polydorus; so, by crafting Soos, the two king lists became symmetrical, and Theopompus' reign could be pushed later. According to Pausanias, Soos was the son of

and father of

Eurypon Eurypon, otherwise called Eurytion ( grc-gre, Εὐρυπῶν, Εὐρυτίων), son of Soos and grandson of Procles, was the third king of that house at Sparta, and thenceforward gave it the name of Eurypontidae. Plutarch talks of his having r ...

. His name means "stability", a key concept for Spartan identity—such personifications of concepts are typical of orally transmitted lists. During his supposed rule, Spartans took away the freedom of the

helots The helots (; el, εἵλωτες, ''heílotes'') were a subjugated population that constituted a majority of the population of Laconia and Messenia – the territories ruled by Sparta. There has been controversy since antiquity as to their ex ...

, and claimed some territories of

Arcadia Arcadia may refer to: Places Australia * Arcadia, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney * Arcadia, Queensland * Arcadia, Victoria Greece * Arcadia (region), a region in the central Peloponnese * Arcadia (regional unit), a modern administrative un ...

. Plutarch wrote of a time that the

Clitorians Cleitor or Kleitor ( grc, Κλείτωρ or Κλήτωρ), also known as Clitorium, was a town in ancient Arcadia. Situation It possessed a small territory called Cleitoria or Kleitoria (Κλειτορία), bounded on the east by the territory of ...

encircled the Spartans, preventing their access to water sources. Soos made an agreement that he would return the lands he had conquered to them if him and all his men would be allowed water to drink. He then promised the kingdom whichever of his soldiers would refuse to drink. Every one of them drank except Soos himself, who only splashed his face with the water, so he refused to keep the agreement with the Clitorians.Plutarch. ''Aphorisms of Spartans'' 66

References

Bibliography

* Mait Kõiv,
The Origins, Development, and Reliability of the Ancient Tradition about the Formation of the Spartan Constitution
, ''Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte'', Bd. 54, H. 3 (2005), pp. 233–264. Eurypontid kings of Sparta Mythological kings of Sparta 9th-century BC Greek people {{Greek-myth-stub